Doctors missed teenager’s terminal cancer – and told her to try mindfulness

Doctors couldn’t detect terminal cancer in a teen, and suggested she try a mindfulness app instead to deal with her “indescribable pain,” her family claims.

Olivia Maunder, 15, was later diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma – a rare form of the disease that affects bones and surrounding tissue – and now has only months to live.

Staff at Frimley Park Hospital in Camberley, Surrey initially missed the tumor in Olivia’s pelvis when she underwent an MRI scan in March 2021.

Instead, doctors diagnosed her with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), a little-known condition often thought to be caused by the body reacting abnormally to an injury.

Over the next three months, the teen endured “indescribable pain” and was rushed to the emergency room several times.

But Olivia, from Bordon, Hampshire, said she received little help from staff and at one point was told to ‘calm down’.

She added: “I was even told that I was mirroring my mother’s pain because she had back problems. I was not treated at all, I just lived in pain.’

Olivia’s mother, Carol Rolfe, 52, said: ‘We told the doctors so many times how much pain she was in.

“She screamed in pain, but we were asked, ‘Have you tried a mindfulness app?’ and were told it was stress. They wanted her to be quiet and not disturb others.’

Olivia is treated in hospital after suffering from ‘indescribable pain’

Olivia initially felt “relieved” after being diagnosed with CRPS, but became frustrated when she was not given pain medication.

“I knew I was in pain and it wasn’t in my mind,” she said.

The teen and her family began to question the CRPS diagnosis further as her pain continued to increase over time.

And a second MRI was arranged only after her mother spoke to an expert about the condition.

It wasn’t until then that the tumor was discovered, but by then it had grown so extensive that surgery was no longer an option.

Olivia, who was recently pictured in a wheelchair, has now been told she has months to live

A serious incident report prepared after the missed diagnosis at the hospital later revealed significant shortcomings in her care.

Olivia first started feeling ‘aches’ in her back in 2020, but she didn’t see a GP until January 2021, after the pain got worse over the Christmas period.

After months of painful chemotherapy and radiotherapy, Olivia was able to return to school in April 2022.

However, her condition has since deteriorated and she was recently told she has months to live.

“When the doctors said they had found a tumor in my pelvis, it felt like an out-of-body experience. I was in shock,” she said.

Staff at Frimley Park Hospital in Camberley, Surrey initially missed the tumor in Olivia’s pelvis when she underwent an MRI scan in March 2021

“Afterwards I was very angry. They told me I had a tumor three months after they said I was making it all up and suffering terribly.’

The family has now instructed lawyers Devonshires Claims to take legal action against Frimley Park Hospital Trust.

Jeanette Van-Cauter, a specialist medical negligence attorney for the law firm, said: “Olivia is one of the bravest young people I have met, and her story is one of the most tragic… this is unacceptable and I believe that those responsible must be held accountable.’

Dr. Timothy Ho, medical director of the Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, said: ‘We are deeply sorry for the considerable distress caused by the delay in diagnosing Olivia’s cancer and we have met with Olivia and her family to discuss the results of our thorough investigation. to share.

“We are determined to learn from the investigation and improve services and will support Olivia and her family as best we can during this difficult time.”

Victoria, Miss Maunder’s sister, is currently raising money for her sister here